The Dreadful Monster and its Poor Relations. Taxing, Spending and the United Kingdom, 1707-2021

'An invaluable primer to some of the underlying tensions behind contemporary political debate' Financial Times
It has always been an important part of British self-image to see the United Kingdom as an ancient, organic and sensibly managed place, in striking contrast to the convulsions of other European countries. Yet, as Julian Hoppit makes clear in this fascinating and surprising book, beneath the complacent surface the United Kingdom has in fact been in a constant, often very tense argument